The invention is based on a fuel injection nozzle for internal combustion engines. In these injection nozzles, the opening movement of the valve needle after the undamped pre-stroke is retarded or damped by providing that the fuel can subsequently flow into the damping chamber, which at that time is enlarging, only in a throttled manner. Upon the closing stroke of the valve needle, care is taken that the valve needle can return quickly to its closing position without being hindered by the damping means. The undamped pre-stroke is attained by providing that in the closing position of the valve needle the cap surrounding the damping chamber rests on the front end of the piston-like extension of the valve needle, and the length of the extension is selected such that the cap is spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the undamped pre-stroke from the blocking shoulder oriented toward this cap and attached to the housing. During the opening stroke of the valve needle, the cap is at first able to follow the valve needle in an unhindered manner, until it strikes the blocking shoulder. This arrangement is very simple and is attainable in some cases without additional parts. However, the distance between the cap and the blocking shoulder of the housing in the closing position of the valve needle is affected by a multiplicity of dimensional tolerances, so that an exact adherence to the set-point value of the undamped pre-stroke necessitates a very high manufacturing accuracy of relatively many parts, or else necessitates additional provisions for adjustment.